 Conti emigrated to the United States via the Port of Philadelphia in 1919.After settling in the new country, Conti was obliged to take a series of manual labor jobs, his patrician background notwithstanding.While working in the California oil fields, he answered an open call placed by director Erich von Stroheim, who was in search of an Austrian military officer to act as technical advisor for his upcoming film "Merry-Go-Round" (1923).